WAPS misses most academic goals | News | winonapost.com – Winona Post

by ALEXANDRA RETTER

In its annual state academic accountability plan, called the World’s Best Workforce (WBWF), Winona Area Public Schools (WAPS) did not meet the majority of its goals for this year, with growth in some areas and declines in others. The district did meet one goal for graduation rates and almost met another in that category. 

All districts are required to complete a WBWF plan yearly by the state. The plan includes five areas in which districts set goals: all students being ready for school, all students reading at grade level in third grade, schools closing all achievement gaps between students, all students being college and career ready and all students graduating from high school. 

With the state legislature earlier this year passing new requirements about reading instruction — called the READ Act — the state replaced the WBWF goal of all students reading at grade level in third grade with the aim of all students reading at or above grade level every year from kindergarten through graduation. This was the last year WAPS will report on the goal of all students reading at grade level in third grade, and moving forward, the district will report in its WBWF plan on the reading progress of students in kindergarten through eighth grade. 

WAPS Director of Learning and Teaching Kristie O’Brien presented the WBWF to the School Board at its November 16 meeting, and the board is expected to vote on the plan at its next meeting. 

The district did not meet its goal in the area of all children being ready for school. Its 2022-2023 goal was to increase the percentage of students meeting kindergarten literacy benchmarks to 74.6%. In fall 2023, 72.5% of students met these benchmarks, below the goal of 74.6% and comparable to last year. 

Looking ahead to next school year, the district proposed setting a goal of increasing the percentage of students meeting these benchmarks by 3.75 percentage points to 76.25% in fall 2024. The district slightly reduced its proposed goal for next year, as this percentage-point increase the district is aiming for in 2024 is a decrease from the percentage-point increase in its goal for 2023, 5.4. 

In the area of all third graders reading at grade level, WAPS did not meet its 2022-2023 goal and experienced a decrease in the percentage of students meeting this benchmark. Its 2022-2023 goal was to increase the percentage of students meeting third grade literacy benchmarks by six percentage points to 68.1%. In spring 2023, 53.2% of students met these benchmarks, a decrease of about nine percentage points from 62.1% of students meeting these benchmarks in spring 2022 and about 15 percentage points below the district’s goal. 

With the READ Act replacing the goal of all third graders reading at grade level, the district is proposing a new type of reading goal for its 2024 WBWF plan. Under the proposed goal, the district would increase the percentage of students meeting literacy benchmarks by five percentage points from fall 2023 to spring 2024 for students in kindergarten through eighth grade (see chart). O’Brien said the district uses a reading assessment called Fastbridge at these grade levels already, and she previously told the Post the district is starting to use the assessment for high school students this year, starting in special education programming. 

School Board member Jim Schul asked about the reason for proposing a five percentage point increase, and O’Brien said that it seemed like a realistic goal, considering past data. 

The district made progress but did not meet its goal with regard to closing the achievement gap between students of color and their white peers. Its goal for 2023 was to decrease the gap in the area of literacy for third graders, as measured by Fastbridge, by eight percentage points, to 11.8 percentage points. In spring 2022, there was a 19.8 percentage-point gap, with 68.9% of white students and 49.1% of students of color meeting proficiency benchmarks. In spring 2023, the gap decreased slightly, to 16.1%, with 68.3% of white students and 52.2% of students of color meeting proficiency standards. Proficiency among white students stayed steady between spring 2022 and spring 2023 and increased slightly for students of color. 

For next school year, the district proposed a goal of decreasing the gap by four percentage-points in spring 2024, to a 12.1 percentage-point gap. This proposed goal of a four percentage-point reduction is lower than the 2023 goal of a reduction of eight percentage points, and the proposed goal of a 12.1 percentage-point gap is a reduction from this year’s goal of an 11.8 percentage point gap. 

The district also did not meet its 2023 goal to decrease the literacy achievement gap between students from low-income families and their peers in third grade. The gap remained stable. The district’s goal was to decrease the gap by eight percentage points, as measured by Fastbridge, to an 11 percentage points. The gap in spring 2022 was 19 percentage points, with 69.8% of other students and 50.8% of students from low-income families meeting literacy benchmarks. In spring 2023, the gap remained stable, increasing very slightly to 19.3%, with 73.1% of other students and 53.8% of students from low-income families meeting the benchmarks. Between spring 2022 and 2023, there was a slight increase in proficiency for both other students and students from low-income families. 

WAPS’ proposed goal for spring 2024 is to decrease the gap by four percentage points to 15.3%, a reduction from this year’s goal of decreasing the gap by eight percentage points. The goal to have a 15.3 percentage- point gap is a reduction from this year’s goal of having an 11 percentage-point gap. 

Regarding all students being ready for career and college, the district did not meet its goal for all ninth graders to complete career and college pathway work — in which students outline some possible options for their futures — for spring 2023. Rather, 30% of ninth graders completed this work. O’Brien said some schedule changes at the high school contributed to not meeting the goal. 

The district’s proposed goal is for all ninth graders to complete such work for spring 2024. 

School Board member Stephanie Smith asked whether families could provide input on what is considered college and career ready, saying it may help the district understand what parents who have not attended college could need to know to help their students. 

WAPS met one of its goals with regard to graduation rates and was quite close to meeting one of its other goals in this area. The district’s goal was for the graduation rate at the Winona Area Learning Center (ALC) to increase by five percentage points to 39.4%, and the 2022 graduation rate at that school was significantly greater, at 60.78%. 

At Winona Senior High School (WSHS), and districtwide, WAPS made progress but did not meet its graduation rate goals. Its goal at WSHS was to increase the graduation rate by five percentage points to 92.4%. The school’s graduation rate was lower, at 90.34% in 2022. This 2022 graduation rate was an increase from the 2021 graduation rate of 87.4%. Districtwide, WAPS’ goal was to increase the graduation rate by five percentage points to 84.7%, and it narrowly did not meet this goal, with the district wide graduation rate being 84.12% in 2022. The 2022 graduation rate was greater than the 2021 graduation rate of 79.7%. 

Looking ahead to next year, the district proposed a goal of increasing the graduation rate at the ALC, WSHS and districtwide by five percentage points each, to 65.8%, 95.3% and 89.12%, respectively. 

Schul said it would be valuable for the district to consider broadening its consideration of the graduation rate from the four-year rate to the rate for all students ages 16 to 24. 

Overall, one strategy the district is using this school year to work toward meeting its goals is having staff members meet in smaller groups to focus on analyzing student data, such as their progress on assessments, O’Brien said. 

Education@winonapost.com